Swinging rack structure for sit-up machines

ABSTRACT

A swinging rack structure for sit-up machines includes a pair of lower bar brackets and an upper bar bracket. The upper bar bracket has one end fastening to an axle to pivotally couple with the lower bar brackets in the axial direction or normal to the axial direction and another end releasably anchoring on the lower bar brackets. When an user wants to get up, the upper bar bracket may be released on one side and turned about the axle to form an open condition so that the user may get up conveniently without interference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a swinging rack structure for sit-upmachines and particularly a swinging rack structure that has an upperbar bracket and a lower bar bracket with one end of the upper barbracket pivotally connecting to the lower bar bracket through an axleand another end of the upper bar bracket releasable anchoring on thelower bar bracket. So the upper bar-bracket can be released at anotherend and is turn-able around the axle to one end thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] With the continuous economic development and transformation ofsociety, many people no longer make their living by labor. Because ofdecreasing labor activities, people in modern time often suffer from theso called “civilization ills”. Hence many people try to do various kindsof exercises at spare moments to keep the body in a healthy condition.In order to avoid physical injury during exercises caused by erroneousexercise methods, many exercise facilities and equipments have beendeveloped to aid users to do exercises in correct postures andprocedures. Doing sit-up is one of the popular exercises. It can bedirectly done on the floor. Because people get injured easily, auxiliaryequipments have been developed, such as a simple sit-up board, and asit-up machine equipped with a swinging arm. FIG. 1 illustrates aconventional Sit-up machine 1 which includes a frame 10, a supportingboard 11 and a swinging arm 12. Through the swinging arm 12 and theforce of a user, the user can enjoy the benefits of sit-up exercises.However, the swinging arm of the conventional sit-up machine is locatedabove the supporting board. When the user lies on the supporting board,the swinging arm is located directly above the user and hampers the userfrom getting up. The user has to bend and move around the swinging arm,or completely disassemble the upper portion of the swinging arm to getup. That's very inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The primary object of the invention is to provide a sit-upmachine to overcome the problem mentioned above. The sit-up machine ofthe invention has a swinging rack consisting of a pair of lower barbrackets and an upper bar bracket. The upper bar bracket has one endpivotally coupling with the lower bar bracket through an axle in theaxial direction or, normal, to the axial direction, and another endreleasable anchoring on the lower bar bracket. When a user wants to getup, the upper bar bracket may be released on one side and turned aroundthe axle to form an open condition so that the user can get up smoothly.

[0004] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features andadvantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from thefollowing detailed description, which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The description and drawings are only to servefor reference and illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limitthe scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional sit-up machine.

[0006]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention.

[0007]FIG. 3 is a side view of the invention.

[0008]FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the swinging rack of the invention,with figure A-A showing the enlarged view of the axle, and figure B-Bshowing the top view of the axle coupling with the anchor dock.

[0009]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the upper bar bracket with oneside opened.

[0010]FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the invention in a moving condition.

[0011]FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic view of a second embodiment ofthe invention.

[0012]FIG. 8 is a fragmentary schematic view of the second embodiment ofthe invention in a moving condition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 for a first embodiment of theinvention. The swinging rack structure 2 for sit-up machines of theinvention mainly includes a frame 3 and a swinging rack 4. The frame 3consists of a front rack 31, a rear rack 32, a support bar 33, a seatboard 34, a backrest board 35, a driving rack 36 and a retaining rack37. The support bar 33 is fixedly fastened to the front rack 31 at adesired location to provide a support spot for latching the user's feet.The seat board 34 is fastened to the frame 3. The backrest board 35 ispivotally connecting to the frame 3 and movable, relative to the seatboard 34, so when a user sits on the sit board 34, the backrest board 35can be turned during the sit-up exercise. The retaining rack 37 ispivotally connected to the rear rack 32, having adjusting holes 371 foradjusting the position of engagement. The driving rack 36 is connectedto the swinging rack 4 and turn-able therewith. The driving rack 36 hasa driving rod 361 and a roller 362. The roller 362 is pivotallyconnected to an end of the driving rod 361 and in contact with thebackrest board 35. The turning of the driving rod 361 drives the roller362 to push and rotate on the backrest board 35. The swinging rack 4 isconnected to the retaining rack 37, and includes a pair of lower barbrackets 41 and an upper bar bracket 42. The lower bar brackets 41 haverespectively one end connecting to either of two sides of the retainingrack 37 and are movable with the retaining rack 37. One of the lower barbrackets 41 has another end fastening to an anchor dock 5. The upper barbracket 42 has one end forming a connecting section 421 and an axle 422extending from the connecting section 421 to couple with the anchor dock5 for connecting to one end of the lower bar brackets 41. The axle 422has a lug 423 to prevent separation. The upper bar bracket 42 hasanother end connecting temporarily to another end of the lower barbrackets 41 on another side through a pin 6 so that the upper barbracket 42 and the lower bar brackets 41 may be coupled together. Bymeans of the construction set forth above, when a user sits on the seatboard 34, in normal conditions the backrest board 35 and the seat board34 are at the same horizontal level. Users may grasp the swinging rack 4with both hands to swing the swinging rack 4 with the hands and theabdomen and drive the roller 362, to raise the backrest board 35 to liftuser's back, achieving a sit-up exercise effect (as shown in FIG. 6).When the user wants to stop the exercise and get up, he/she can releasethe pin 6 and move the swinging rack 4 upwards to separate one end ofthe upper bar bracket 42 from another side of the lower bar brackets 41.Meanwhile, the axles 422 on another end of the upper bar bracket 42still couple with another side of the lower bar brackets 41. Thus theupper bar bracket 42 may be turned around the axle 422 to open on oneside, enabling the user to get up without interference (as shown in FIG.5).

[0014] Refer to FIGS. 7 and 8 for a second embodiment of the invention.While the previous embodiment has the upper bar bracket 42 turn-ablearound the axle 422, to open in one direction, in the second embodimentanother approach is employed. The lower bar bracket 7 has one sidecoupling with an anchor seat 71. The anchor seat 71 has a slot 72 and ananchor trough 73. The upper bar bracket 8 has an anchor member 81located on one end slid-able in the anchor trough 73. The lower barbracket 7 has an axial axle 9 pivotally connecting to the slot 72 of theanchor seat 71. In normal conditions, the anchor member 81 of the upperbar bracket 8 is nestled in the anchor trough 73 of the anchor seat 71.When the pin 6 on another end of the upper bar bracket 8 is released andthe upper bar bracket 8 is moved upwards, the anchor member 81 separatesfrom the anchor trough 73 and is freed from constraint. Thus the upperbar bracket 8 may be turned around the axle 9 to enable the user to getup without interference.

[0015] While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been setforth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosedembodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof mayoccur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims areintended to cover all embodiments not departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A swinging rack structure for a sit-up machinemounted onto a sit-up machine frame which equips with a supporting boardfor an user to grasp, the swinging rack structure comprising: a pair oflower bar brackets having respectively one end pivotally engaging withtwo sides of the frame; and an upper bar bracket having one endpivotally coupling with the end of the lower bar brackets through anaxle and another end releasably engaging with the another end of thelower bar brackets through a latch apparatus such that when the latchapparatus is released the upper bar bracket is turnable about the axleto form an opening on one side.
 2. The swinging rack structure for asit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the frame includes a front rack, arear rack, a support bar, a seat board, a backrest board, a driving rackand a retaining rack, the seat board being fixedly mounted onto theframe, the backrest board being pivotally engaging with the frame andmovable relative to the seat board such that the backrest board isturnable when the user does sit-up exercise.
 3. The swinging rackstructure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the upper bar bracketfurther includes a connecting section to couple with the lower barbrackets.
 4. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim3, wherein the axle is extended from the connecting section.
 5. Theswinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein one ofthe lower bar brackets has one end coupling with an anchor dock topivotally engage with the axle.
 6. The swinging rack structure for asit-up machine of claim 1, wherein the latch apparatus is an insertingpin.
 7. The swinging rack structure for a sit-up machine of claim 1,wherein the axle is pivotally engaged with the lower bar bracket on thecentral axis thereof in a radial direction.
 8. The swinging rackstructure for a sit-up machine of claim 1, wherein one of the lower barbrackets has an anchor seat fastening to the top end thereof to couplewith the upper bar bracket through another axle, the anchor seat havingan anchor trough and a slot.
 9. The swinging rack structure for a sit-upmachine of claim 8, wherein the upper bar bracket has an anchor memberlocated on one end slidable in the anchor trough.
 10. The swinging rackstructure for a sit-up machine of claim 8, wherein the another axle runsthrough the slot of the anchor seat and is pivotally engaged with thelower bar bracket on the central axis in a normal direction.